Pick Up
by Totally-Out-Of-It
Summary: Or "The Four Times Connor called Stephen and the One Time Stephen Called Connor". Five phone conversations between Connor Temple and Stephen Hart that capture a relationship and life. Slash. Stephen/Connor


**WHOO!** This is the 100th story on Totally-Out-Of-It! I am super excited about it. You have no idea. I feel like it's a privilege (since I'm not the only author on this name. My sister is too.) and that makes me happy.

Also:

It's like "Whoa! Holy Cow!" I love these types of stories (the 4 times this happened and the 1 time it didn't, The 5 times so-and-so did this and 1 time they did something else, etc.) and now I've actually _written_ _one_. Schway!

* * *

**Pick Up**

_Or "The Four Times Connor called Stephen and the One Time Stephen Called Connor". __Five phone conversations between Connor Temple and Stephen Hart that capture a relationship and life. Slash. Stephen/Connor_

…

…

**1**

The first time Connor called Stephen was three months after they started working together. Stephen was sitting at home, reading a book on carnivorous dinosaurs - just in case - when his phone rang. He almost didn't answer because it wasn't a recognized number, but he did.

"Hello." Silence. "Hello?"

A breath. _"Ah. Hey, Stephen. It's Connor...?"_

Stephen almost laughed. He introduced himself like he wasn't sure if that was his name. "What do need, Connor?" How had he gotten Stephen's number?

_"Uh...Well...You see, the thing is...You're good with women, right?"_ Stephen hadn't even opened his mouth when Connor kept going. _"Cause, see, I've only ever really had that penpal and, I guess what I'm saying is...I need help with Abby."_

Stephen shut his book and set it to the side. "Honestly, Connor, I haven't had a lot of girlfriends myself."

Connor's voice was a tint frantic. _"But you can still help me, right? Everyone loves you, so you've got to have experience, right?"_

Stephen shrugged. "I suppose. What's wrong?"

Connor was silent for several long seconds. _"I like Abby. I live with her, yea? But she doesn't seem interested at all. What should I do?"_

Actually, he had no idea.

"Talk to her. And try to appeal to her likes. She likes reptiles, you like dinosaurs, you work together. Just talk to her," he suggested.

Connor sighed. _"We talk all the time. I think I'm getting somewhere but then I make a sci-fi reference and she's totally cold. Am I a nerd?"_

Stephen nodded with a quirk of his lips. "Definitely." Connor sighed again. "But just being yourself, nerdy as it is, can be sexy. Be confident in who you are."

For a long while, the only sounds Stephen heard were Connor's soft breaths.

"Connor?" Stephen asked.

_"Hm?"_ Connor let out. _"Oh. Right. Thanks. I'll talk to you later, alright? Bye, Stephen,"_ he rushed out.

The connection cut before Stephen could blink. He stared at his phone for a minute or so before setting it on the table and picking up his book again. He reread the same line six times. With a sigh, Stephen picked up his phone again and saved Connor's number as a contact.

...

...

**2**

Stephen had just been released from the hospital. Cutter drove him home and dropped him off. They'd barely spoken to each other. Stephen shut and locked his door before thudding across the room on his crutches to fall in bed.

"I hate crutches," he moaned quietly to the empty room.

There was a vibration in his pocket and Stephen pulled it out almost lazily. Glancing at the screen announced Connor Temple was calling. Hoping it wasn't something that required him getting out of bed for the next week, Stephen hit answer and slid the phone to his ear.

"Hello."

_"Hey. It's Connor,"_ Connor greeted nervously.

"I know," Stephen answered blandly.

Connor seemed to falter. _"R-really? Ok. Um...right. Right. I was calling to see how you were doing. The raptor bite?"_ he reminded, like Stephen could possibly forget nearly being stuck in the past and eaten by a raptor so easily.

"Yea," Stephen agreed. "I'm alright."

Connor let out a breath. _"Good. I was worried since I couldn't come see you in the hospital. Wish I could've been there to see you out."_

It was a simple statement, but Stephen still felt a bit of warmth spread through him at Connor's concern. "Well," he began, "Nick was there. He gave me a ride home."

_"Ah,"_ Connor let out. _"Good. That's good...How bad is it?"_

Stephen glanced at his heavily bandaged foot. "Not too bad," he said with a shrug. "A week on crutches, probably some scarring."

_"Sexy,"_ Connor joked with a light laugh.

Stephen couldn't help but laugh in turn. "You know it." He kept the smile even after the laughter ended. "Thank you, Connor."

_"Ah,"_ Connor breathed out. _"No-No problem. I'll see you at work, when you get back, right?"_

Stephen nodded even though Connor couldn't see it. "Yea. Definitely. As soon as I can."

"_Good. Really good."_ Connor paused for the briefest of moments. _"So I'll talk to you later, yea? Bye."_ He hung up.

"Bye," Stephen responded softly.

He kept the phone next to his ear for several minutes after that, listening to the silence and staring at the roof. Things between Nick and him were rocky at best and his life in general was feeling pretty lopsided, but Stephen….he couldn't explain it, but he felt so content and calm in that moment. And, he'd probably never admit it aloud but, it was all because of Connor.

…

…

**3**

Stephen sat at his desk with his phone in his hand, scrolling through his recent calls list. A few were from Nick, a couple from Abby, and one or two were from the ARC. But just about every third call in his phone was from Connor. Stephen clicked on Connor's name and his phone brought up a small blurb about the younger man: his name, his phone number, the group he was listed under (unlisted), what his ring tone was, and his picture. It was a picture Stephen would never show to anyone, because he felt weird about it.

It was almost a month ago. Connor was working on some invention or another near the ADD and he'd fallen asleep in his chair. His hat was askew and his jacket was missing, and he held tools loosely in each gloved hand crossed against his chest. Stephen didn't even know what possessed him to take the picture, just that it had felt right and he'd wanted to be able to look at it again later. Connor looked good.

Stephen was having a hard enough time fixing his mind around that last thought.

Right now, he was considering calling Connor. He'd never called Connor before, even though Connor was always calling him. Stephen didn't really know why he should call Connor, but Connor called just to tell him about a funny looking banana in the shop down the street from Abby's flat and then hang up, so that shouldn't really be an issue.

Suddenly he phone started to vibrate and Connor's picture appeared bigger on the screen. Stephen actually jumped a bit in surprise. He clicked answer and slid the phone to his ear.

"Hello," he greeted.

"_Hey, Stephen,"_ Connor greeted almost too casually. _"You're still at the office, right?"_

Stephen barely cast a glance around the room. "Yea. Why?"

"_Well, I left my notebook there,"_ Connor informed him. _"Actually, I really don't need it before tomorrow, come to think of it. But we got back and I noticed I didn't have it, so I was wondering if maybe you would bring it over,"_ he said speedily.

Stephen felt a little smile alight on his lips. "What movie is it?" he asked knowingly. Connor wouldn't call for something like that, and Stephen had received these types of calls in the past from the jumpy male.

"…"

Stephen waited.

"_Jurassic Park."_

He couldn't help the short bark of laughter that pulled from him.

"_Hey!"_ Stephen could hear the scowl. _"Once you've actually dealt with the creatures, I figured it'd be funny to see the Hollywood kind!"_ Stephen snorted again and he could imagine how Connor's scowl would deepen. _"If you don't want to, just say it and stop being a jerk."_

Stephen shook his head. "No," he corrected, hoping to alleviate some of his friend's anger. "You're probably right. But what about Abby? It doesn't seem like her kind of thing."

There was a momentary pause and then Connor spoke again, sounding a bit more nervous. _"Actually…Abby went out a short bit ago with some friends from the zoo."_

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "So it'd be just you and me then?" he asked. A strange bubbly feeling began in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't quite butterflies, but it was still rather strange. He didn't know what to make of it.

"_Uh, yeah,"_ Connor quipped, probably nodding his head.

For a few moments, Stephen sat in silence. His mind was going over how this night could possibly go: good, ok, or terrible. Connor was a bit weird, so practically anything could happen. Or another anomaly might open midway through the movie. Or anything could happen, really. He took a deep breath.

"Where's your notebook?" he asked, already standing from his desk.

"_What?"_ Connor almost stuttered.

Stephen gathered his things. "Your notebook. The one you left? I'll bring it with me."

Over the phone, Connor's breathy little laugh was muted but Stephen still caught it. _"Fantastic. It's laying on the desk near the ADD. The blue one."_

"Alright. See you in a bit, then," Stephen said in good-bye. He could do like Connor and simply hang up, but part of him, the part with the bubbles, knew he didn't want to miss a moment.

"_See you,"_ Connor half breathed out. For the briefest of moments, they both just stayed on the line for no discernible reason. Then Connor's end cut out and Stephen knew he'd hung up.

…

…

**4**

Stephen couldn't stop pacing. He was by the black car that had brought him to the anomaly site, standing not twenty feet from the glowing obstruction. Abby was a few feet to his left, talking to some guy in a black special ops uniform, and he didn't know where Nick or Jenny had got off to.

They were in the middle of a city, but in a back alley type of area where few people went. That was lucky for them, mostly, except that three Deinonychus dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period had escaped and were running loose somewhere.

That wouldn't be so bad except that they'd lost contact with Connor about six minutes ago and had no idea where he was.

So Stephen was holding a lethal weapon, no tranquilizer gun, in his hands and just waiting for someone to tell him where to go. He'd be gone in a heartbeat. His greatest fear was that Connor was already dead and they just didn't know it.

His eyes widened a bit and he froze where he stood when he felt the vibrations coming from his pocket. He ripped the little metal device from its cloth confines and felt his heart begin to beat again at the image of Connor's sleeping form on his phone. He quickly put the phone to his ear.

"Connor? Where are you?" he asked, unable to keep the slight anger from his voice. He was scared so he was angry.

He heard Connor inhale sharply through his nose. _"A pub a few blocks over,"_ he said. He let out a heavy breath and took another, again sharp but this time through his mouth. "_I don't know….I think it's called the Great Dragon or something."_ He let out a short, sharp laugh. _"Fitting."_

Even with Connor trying to make a joke, Stephen caught the tone of his voice. "Are you alright?" He waved his gun in the air to catch Abby's attention and mouthed 'Connor' to her. She grabbed a gun and came over.

"_I'm-"_ Connor cut himself off abruptly and went silent, not even breathing. Stephen could hear something crash in the background. It was several long seconds before Connor spoke again. _"They're here. All of them,"_ he whispered quickly into the phone. _"I trapped them all in the pub."_

"With you?" Stephen asked incredulously. He was already hurrying down the street in search of the pub. Connor let out a forced sounding whine of a yes. "You're an idiot, Connor."

"_I know,"_ Connor conceded. _"But there wasn't much of a choice at the time…."_ He huffed several times, airily, and Stephen didn't like the sound of that. _"I-I've hid out under the bar for now….but it's only a matter of time before…."_ He trailed off. _"Stephen, I need to tell you something really important, and please hear me out, alright?"_

"What's wrong with you, Connor?" Stephen asked instead. Abby glanced around them, looking for signs of Deinonychus, but he knew her attention was on the conversation she could only hear half of.

Connor didn't speak for a bit, and Stephen heard the growl of a dinosaur, softly. Finally, _"Dinosaurs hunt by blood, right?"_ He let out a tiny laugh and it sounded pained. _"I won't be hard to find."_

"Connor," Stephen said, as if in warning. Please say he wasn't dying. Please.

"_Stephen,"_ Connor breathed. His voice was quieter than ever. _"Listen to me."_

"I'm listening. Talk to me." Stephen was almost sprinting down the street now, searching frantically for the pub. He glanced down a side street and stopped. Abby had to backtrack a few steps. There it was: The Mighty Dragon. Connor was close. He headed for it.

"_I love you."_

Stephen stopped in the middle of the street, his breath catching in his throat.

"_I just…thought someone should know….before it's too late, you know?" _Connor said slowly, like it was taking a lot of effort. _"I really love you."_

The call cut off and Stephen ripped the phone away from his ear to stare at the blinking "Call Ended" on the screen.

"Stephen?" Abby asked worriedly. "Stephen, what's wrong?"

Stephen raised hard eyes on the pub while he shoved his phone in his pocket again and gripped his gun in both hands. "They're in the pub," he said stonily. "Let's go."

…

…

**5**

Three weeks had passed since the Deinonychus incident. Connor was unconscious by the time Abby and Stephen had taken care of the dinosaurs and found him behind the counter, hidden by some boxes. He was rushed to the hospital immediately. He died for a full minute, during the trip into the hospital, due to blood loss from the slash on his left leg.

A week and a half later, he was finally cleared to go home. Abby had barely left his side the whole time, constantly telling him how brave he was and giving him updates from the ARC. No new anomalies opened the entire time. Cutter came and visited too. Stephen didn't.

Even when Connor went back to work, Stephen was rarely even in the same room as him for more than two minutes. An anomaly opened and a stegosaurus came through, but nothing more dangerous than that. Stephen was all business the whole time, even while Abby and Connor cheered about being so close to a steg.

Now Connor was wandering the street, probably looking like a struggling, starving artist in his black hat with black jacket and black vest over purple shirt with brown pants. He felt terrible. Abby had asked him about Stephen's behavior lately and he couldn't answer her, because he was pretty sure he knew what the problem was. So he went for a walk.

He should've taken his secret to the grave. At least then he could pretend not to be in love and still hang around Stephen, instead of being ignored and avoided the way he was. But now Stephen knew and he probably hated Connor for it.

A catchy jingle echoed in the air around him and Connor blinked stupidly for a moment. Then he reached in his bag and pulled out his cell phone. Stephen's number flashed on screen. He didn't have a picture because he couldn't find a good enough reason to ask Stephen for one, and the ones he found whilst hacking were all lame.

His hand was shaking when he answered. "S-stephen?" he asked, incredulity sneaking into his voice. Stephen said something, but the noise from the street blocked it out. Connor pressed a finger into his left ear. "Say again? I didn't catch that."

"_I think I love you too."_

Connor nearly dropped his phone. His eyes widened and he looked up and down the street like someone nearby would confirm he'd heard right. Luckily, Stephen didn't seem to be waiting for a response. He trudged on.

"_I've been trying to deny it for months now, but I really care about you, Connor."_ He let out a frustrated sigh. _"You nearly died and I….I don't know. I got scared and I avoided you. I'm sure that hurt and I'm sorry."_ Connor was finding it hard to breathe. He moved to a side street and leaned against the wall for support. _"I'm not saying I'm not scared now, because I am. I scared of being this way. I'm scared to love you. But I'm more scared that I might lose you and never know what could have been. So I'm done running."_

Stephen went quiet and Connor took a shaky breath. A quirky smile lit his face. "Really?" he asked, his voice hopeful as tears sprung to his eyes. Never in a million years had he thought-

"_Really."_

Connor let two tears escape. Then he moved the phone away and wiped his face and cleared his throat. "Brilliant. You wanna go for a drink, some time?" he asked.

Stephen let out an airy laugh. _"Sure. When?"_

"I don't know. How 'bout now?" Connor asked speculatively.

"_OK. The usual place_?" Connor 'hmm'd in agreement. _"I'll see you soon, then."_

"Y-yea," Connor said with a nod. "Yea, soon…Bye."

"_Bye,"_ Stephen responded softly.

Connor waited a full four seconds, listening as Stephen grabbed what sounded like keys and a door shut, before finally clicking the phone closed. He smiled at the sky and held his phone between both hands.

Yes.

...

...

Fin.

Please review! Thanks!


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